PC1170 is the blog of Pat Campbell morning host at 1170 KFAQ in Tulsa, OK.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Study: Men Endure Pain Better Than Women

Men could never put up with the pain of childbirth, goes a common saying -- or could they? British researchers from Bath University announced in a press release on Tuesday (June 5th) that men are able to endure pain better than women because they don't become emotional about it, and view pain as a problem to be solved.

The scientists said that the difference in how each gender deals with pain has something to do with genetic and hormonal factors, but more to do with social and psychological differences. Men see pain as a practical problem and seek solutions to diminish it, while women focus on pain and how it is making them feel. As a result, women feel pain more acutely, for longer periods, and in more parts of their body.

The researchers tested how long participants could endure having their arms in ice-cold water. Female participants not only noticed the pain sooner, but were unable to put up with it for as long. Critics say that men feel the same amount of pain as women but take the macho approach of trying not to show it. Dr. Ed Keogh, a psychologist from Bath's Pain Management Unit who authored the study, said the findings should help scientists come up with methods of dealing with pain that are tailored to each gender.

Hogwash! I don't buy this for a minute. Whoever did this study must be a guy that never witnessed childbirth.

"Women are more sensitive to pain than men, new research on arthritis sufferers suggests. But women are better able to cope with it, recover more quickly and not let pain control their lives.

In research presented yesterday at a National Institutes of Health conference, researchers said the superior ability of women to deal with pain gives them a strength that suffer-in-silence men lack. And the differences may all be based on sex hormones, some experts suggest.

A study of men and women suffering from arthritis, a common disorder of aging that affects both genders, found that women tended to have a keener sense of pain than men, but that men were more likely to let the ... " (I can't post the rest cause I have to sign in.)

The crap about men seeing pain as a problem to be solved is bullshit. They don't "solve" it they attempt to suffocate it through silence.